"This is a serious one and it may just be a simple answer but I really was wondering...Why does ice cream create a "brain freeze"?"
Well Jenny, the headache probably comes because your brain is smarter than your stomach and is trying to tell you that ice cream isn't good for you. Ha Ha (insert snooty intellectual laugh) I'm kidding. Now, all jokes aside this is a very serious issue that plagues many ice cream eaters around the world. When you take an enormous bite of your triple chocolate fudge ice cream with nuts, it touches the roof of your mouth, and that is where it all begins. There are many blood vessels and nerves in the roof of your mouth, more specifically, in your soft palate. That is the softer (as the name suggests) part of the top of your mouth closer to your throat. When any frigid cold substance touches this part, all those tiny blood vessels expand to allow more warm blood in to the cold area to warm it up. Like when you are cold and your skin is red. Same concept. More blood is going to the cold area. This rapid swelling causes discomfort, "but why do we feel it your brain?" you ask. Well, hold your horses, I am getting there. Have you ever heard about people who are about to have a heart attack often have pain in their shoulder and arm? This is called "referred pain", or what I like to call "phantom pain". In this case the heart is in pain, but the person feels it somewhere else because when we were put together some of the nerves got mixed up. Certain arm nerves got placed in the heart, and certain mouth nerves got placed in the brain. Who knows, maybe if you got your brain really cold, you would get a "mouth freeze". It is all science. Trust me. I personally have never had a brain freeze, but by the look on some peoples faces, I am sure it is not pleasant. There are ways to ward off the effects of the "brain freeze" a little quicker. You can blow into your hands, or the one that always works for me (or should I say, would work for me if I ever got a brain freeze.) is pressing your tongue firmly to the roof of your mouth. I hope this helps you, and be careful. That ice cream can be very dangerous stuff.
4 comments:
Fascinating! You either have a vast knowledge of fun little facts, or make excellent use of google search.
WOW! SO if I never let the ice cream touch the roof of my mouth I won't get brain freeze? I am going to eat ice cream everyday until I master that technique, Thanks a bunch! You are lucky you haven't had it, it hurts! Robbie's had it and it was sad... and funny!
Actually Sheri, I have a little bit of both, but more than that, I am a master of B.S. And Jenny, if you do master that technique you will be a master. I think the best way to take your ice cream and not have it touch the roof of your mouth is to take it intravenously.
Hmmm... is this true? The only reason why I question this is because a certain friend of yours has a doctorate in BS - ex: for almost our entire dating/engagement period I believed his middle name was Jones. Which of course was given to him because it was his mother's maiden name. Come to find out this is not his middle name or even his mother's maiden name... weird... that's all I have to say.
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